Humble Granola and Ugly Chicken in a Pot
Humble and Ugly Go Together
Today I’m re-visiting my love for granola and chicken. I never tire of either and find them comforting to make and eat, though not necessarily together. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for spending time here with me at BFB.
This is the second time I’ve written about granola
Granola is one of the few cereals I enjoy. I’m still not sick of granola nor will I ever be.
Back in August, I posted two granola recipes. One sweet and one savory. The savory one included bits of sun-dried tomato which stayed chewy enough for about a week and then turned into hardened little tomato rocks that became inedible. I stand by the basic recipe but if you ever decide to make it, omit the sun-dried tomatoes. Maybe a good substitution would be adding extra nuts or throwing in a handful of weathered, dark olives right before serving.
The savory granola recipe is available at the end of this post. I love eating it by the handful when a case of late afternoon “crunchies” strikes, or as a topping on mixed green salad and pureed vegetable soups.
A couple of weeks ago as I was unpacking a box of kitchen ceramics, I found a bag of oats. I know, I know. You’re probably worried about my mental acuity right about now. But I assure you, I packed this bag of oats in this box very intentionally. It fit perfectly and provided a just right amount of cushioning. As a side note, nothing broke during our recent move. Not one single thing. Anyway, there was already a newish bag of oats in the pantry, so I found myself knee deep in oats at the same time that I found myself fresh out of granola. I did what anyone would do under this circumstance. You guessed it. I made a new batch of granola.
Granola is a kind of comfort food for me. It reminds me of the 70’s when I was a teenager. Yes there was plenty of turmoil and unrest as the Vietnam War raged, as the Kent State shootings took place during a peace protest, as Nixon’s presidency ended in resignation after the Watergate scandal, as Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon and then pardoned him, as Jimmy Carter won the 1976 election, becoming our 39th president.
Jimmy Carter’s recent death got me reminiscing about that era. I’ve been feeling wistful for a time when mobile devices didn’t exist, when we could only imagine walking around with pocket sized computers in our pockets. When even though transformation and reform and violence was abundant, the 70’s were also a time when having a password meant you could whisper it into the ear of your neighborhood friend to get into the neighborhood hideout, when talking on the phone with friends for hours instead of swiping right was how we connected. When we had a president who was humble, hard-working, faithful, and intelligent.
As January 20th approaches, I am alternating between feeling sick to my stomach with despair and something like hopefulness as I take care of my little corner of the world. It’s really all I can do.
I am craving humble food right now.
Chicken in a pot falls into the humble food category.
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about preparing a chicken that I forgot to season with salt. Maybe I’m just a forgetful person. Keep reading and you’ll understand what I mean.
Most of my days are kind of backwards, at least in terms of eating. Breakfast is by far when I’m the hungriest and want to eat big. Dinner for me is usually much smaller since that’s the time of day when I’m the least hungry. Often, I make dinner with leftovers in mind. Those leftovers become breakfast.
The other day as I was preparing what turned out to be the ugly chicken ready to cook, I decided to spatchcock it so it would cook more quickly. Spatchcocking is a technique where you take out the backbone of the chicken so that it can be laid open, flattened if you will. It helps the poultry cook more evenly since the white and dark meat have different cooking requirements. I’ve spatchcocked many chickens. I’ve even spatchcocked a turkey or two. I own a pair of heavy duty poultry shears dedicated to spatchcocking whole birds.
Spatchcocking is not new to me.
As I was giving myself a big high five in my head for deciding to spatchcock the chicken, I grabbed the shears from the drawer. The chicken was patted dry, sitting on the polyurethane cutting board I use for raw meat, beckoning for attention. It wasn’t until I had finished that I realized I’d split the chicken down the breastbone, rather than taking out the backbone. One of the best parts about spatchcocking is that you can use the backbone as the literal backbone for a quick stock that becomes a pan sauce to go with your chicken.
Anyway, it was too late. There wasn’t much I could do, so into the pot went the chicken. I wasn’t as worried about the chicken as I was about my cooking my own goose! Have you ever had these kind of moments where you know something is wrong, but you can’t quite figure it out until it’s too late? These are the moments when I think something is seriously wrong with me.
Since the backbone was still attached to the chicken–thereby negating the ability to make the pan sauce I had envisioned–I instead sautéed some tomato paste with chopped garlic and a squeeze of anchovy paste. Once it was slightly browned I added it into the pot with the chicken–and the carrots and onions. I also slathered the chicken with a mixture of rough mustard and a Dijon style mustard and added the last bit of some brandy along with a splash of water. On went the lid to the Dutch oven, down went the heat to medium, as I scratched my head, wondering if I’m starting to lose my marbles.
Often when I cook I tend to not measure ingredients. I’m kind of winging it. As you can see, it’s not a pretty looking chicken but in the end it was tasty. Next time, probably next week, I’m spatchcocking another chicken, and making the pan sauce that chicken in a pot deserves.
I’ll let you know how it goose; I mean goes!
Humble Granola *
This granola uses egg whites to help create large chunks, shards really, of granola. If clusters are your thing, you’ll love this. Otherwise just break the granola shards into whatever size suits you. If you are allergic to eggs I think aquafaba, the water left over from a can of chickpeas, might be a good substitute. All you need is a large mixing bowl, a 10x15 sheet pan, parchment paper, and a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped nuts of choice, can also use pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
1 cup dried coconut
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 generous teaspoon almond extract
¼ cup neutral oil like avocado or grape seed
1/3 cup maple syrup
*Feel free to add dried raisins or cranberries after the granola has baked. If you choose to add dried mango or pineapple or some other exotic dried fruit I fear the granola may not be as humble as it might be.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Pre-heat oven to 300º F
Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine oats, chopped nuts and/or seeds, coconut, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and almond extract in a large mixing bowl.
Measure oil into a liquid measuring cup and add to oat mixture.
Measure maple syrup into measuring cup and add to oat mixture.
Stir thoroughly until all the oats and nuts are coated with the oil and maple syrup.
Separate the egg whites into the measuring cup. Beat the whites with a fork or small wire whisk until they are broken up and a bit frothy. Add them to the bowl and once again mix them well into the oat mixture.
Save the yolks for the next morning’s breakfast scramble.
Once the granola is mixed together, transfer it to the parchment lined baking sheet and spread it out into as even a layer as possible.
Bake for 30-40 minutes. If it’s nice and brown and you smelled the granola before opening the oven door it’s probably ready. Cook longer if you, like me, enjoy your granola nice and toasty. Just make sure to check it every 8-10 minutes so it doesn’t burn.
Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack until cool enough to handle. Break into large, or small pieces, depending on your preference. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.
SAVORY GRANOLA
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup buckwheat (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
2 tablespoons chia seeds
½ cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Za’atar
1 teaspoon Diamond Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Wet Ingredients:
½ cup tahini
¼ cup maple syrup
2 canned chipotle peppers, chopped, plus 3 teaspoons of the juice from the can
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 egg white, beaten with a whisk until frothy
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Line a 9x13 in. sheet pan with parchment paper. Set aside until ready to use.
3. Mix all dry ingredients together, oats through red pepper flakes, in a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
4. In a small saucepan, combine all the wet ingredients, Tahini through olive oil.
5. Place saucepan over medium high heat and stir with a whisk as the mixture heats up. Once it comes to a slow boil, take the pan off the heat.
6. At this point it’s time to crack the egg. Separate the white from the yolk. Using a clean whisk or fork, beat the egg white until frothy. Save the yolk for another use…like adding it to your omelet, or French toast batter, or in Caesar salad dressing. You get the drift.
7. Add the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir well to combine.
8. Add the frothy egg white and stir well again.
9. Spread granola onto sheet pan and place in oven. Cook for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the chopped dried tomatoes.
Allow to cool completely before breaking up into smaller pieces.